Aetna Cas. and Sur. Co., Inc. v. Miller, s. 88-655
| Decision Date | 15 August 1989 |
| Docket Number | 88-1524,Nos. 88-655,s. 88-655 |
| Citation | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 1927,550 So.2d 29 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 1927 AETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY, INC., Appellant, v. Joshua MILLER, M.D., Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Blackwell, Walker, Fascell & Hoehl and Douglas H. Stein, Miami, for appellant.
Podhurst, Orseck, Parks, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow & Olin and Joel S. Perwin, Miami, for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ.
Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, a third-party defendant/insurer, appeals a final declaratory judgment which held that its policy of insurance with the University of Miami provided coverage and legal representation for Joshua Miller, M.D., the University's employee, in a lawsuit filed against him by a fellow physician claiming assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Dr. Miller is a University of Miami surgeon and faculty member. He instructed a staff anesthesiologist, Dr. Gyamfi, to examine an intensive care patient in preparation for surgery. Dr. Miller further cautioned Dr. Gyamfi not to inform the patient of surgical risks because of her highly emotional state. Unknown to Dr. Miller, Dr. Mary Vinsant substituted for Gyamfi. Having not been briefed as to Dr. Miller's precautionary directive, Vinsant proceeded to discuss the operation with the patient in the normal course.
Dr. Miller arrived on the scene and found his patient emotionally distressed over the recently-learned risks involved in the imminent surgical procedure. He confronted Dr. Vinsant, allegedly grabbed the ends of a stethoscope draped around her neck, pulled and twisted them, causing Dr. Vinsant to suffer a herniated cervical disk. In response to the lawsuit filed by Dr. Vinsant and her husband, Miller filed a third-party complaint for declaratory relief against The University of Miami's insurance carrier, Aetna, asserting that because he is a University employee, Aetna's policy provided coverage and legal representation. The trial court ruled that Miller's acts were not excluded from Aetna's coverage and accordingly taxed attorney's fees and costs.
Aetna contends that the declaratory judgment was erroneous because Dr. Miller's wrongful acts were intentional and, therefore, excluded under its comprehensive general liability insurance policy which provides that coverage exists only for accidents, and further, notwithstanding that the injuries inflicted were unforeseeable, Dr. Miller's original conduct was not an accident for purposes of determining insurance coverage citing ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Higgins
...fact issues in the language of the policy exclusions. We find no error in the court's jury instructions. See Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Miller, 550 So.2d 29, 30 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) ("Dr. Miller testified that he, being mildly upset, intentionally tugged on both ends of the stethoscope draped a......
-
Sunshine Birds and Supplies, Inc. v. U.S. Fidelity and Guar. Co.
...or without merit, National Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Lenox Liquors, Inc., 358 So.2d 533, 536 (Fla.1977); Aetna Cas. and Sur. Co., Inc. v. Miller, 550 So.2d 29, 30 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Reliance Ins. Co. v. Royal Motorcar Corp., 534 So.2d 922, 923 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); Logozzo v. Kent Ins. Co., 46......
-
N.H. Indem. Co. v. Scott
...& Cas., 656 So.2d 494 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995); State Farm Fire & Cas. v. Caldwell, 630 So.2d 668 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Aetna Cas. & Sur. v. Miller, 550 So.2d 29 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Capoferri v. Allstate Ins., 322 So.2d 625 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975); Buchwald v. Hartford Acc. and Indem., 319 So.2d 164 (......
-
Geovera Specialty Ins. Co. v. Hutchins
...intentional conduct, but the claim asserts negligence, the negligence label should be disregarded. See, e.g., Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Miller, 550 So.2d 29 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); and Cabezas v. Fla. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co., 830 So.2d 156 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2002). A wolf dressed in a sheep's cloth......
-
The intentional acts exclusion.
...act exclusion excludes coverage for an accidental injury flowing from an intentional act"). Compare Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Miller, 550 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 3d D.C.A. 1989) (holding that the intent to perform an act was sufficient to trigger the exclusion and that the lack of intent to caus......